Battles of Corbridge

The Battles of Corbridge both took place at the same Corbridge, between the same contestants in 915 and 918. They were important in deciding the fate of the Viking kingdom of York and the Anglo-Saxon earldom of Northumbria.

First Battle of Corbridge: 915

The first battle, according to the chronicle of the diocese of Durham ("Historia de Sancto Cuthberto"), was the result of two years of raiding the coast of Northumbria (from 913). The date of the battle is uncertain. In a battle in the Irish Sea in 914, Rögvaldr Guðrøðrsson defeated his rival Barðr Óttarsson. In the same year, Rögvaldr invaded Britain and burned Dunblane. Rögvaldr apparently expelled the Bernician aristocracy from Lothian, and Ealdred of Bamburgh fled to the court of King Causantín II of Scotland. Finally, Causantín II allied with Ealdred. Together they met the invaders, under their leader Rögvaldr, at Corbridge. The allies were defeated and, according to the "Historia", the land north of the River Tees was divided between Rögvaldr's followers.

econd Battle of Corbridge: 918

For the next two years, the result of the defeat was Viking raids until when in 917, Rögvaldr left with a large fleet for Waterford. He returned in the next year to invade Britain again. This time the Scots were prepared and the armies met on the Tyne in 918.

The "Annals of Ulster" informs us that the Norse army divided itself into four columns. The Scots destroyed the first three but were ambushed by the last, commanded by Rögvaldr himself. The Scots managed to escape without disaster, however. The "Historia de Sancto Cuthberto" mentions the battle site of Corbridge for this second encounter and adds that the English fought alongside the Norse that time, though it ignores the presence of the Scots, whose fighting is derived from the "Annals of Ulster". It seems that it was an indecisive engagement.

In 919, Rögvaldr descended on York. He took the city and had himself proclaimed king, establishing the kingdom of York. The Bernicians remained under him, though Ealdred and Domnall I, king of Strathclyde, did homage to the king of England.

ources

*Stenton, Sir Frank M. "Anglo-Saxon England Third Edition". Oxford University Press, 1971.